Works of literature, such as novels, short stories, textbooks and even legal reference books, contain complex relationships between their elements such as the organization of information, the relationship between the characters presented in the literature, and a plot line within the work of literature.
For works which are more narrative in nature, such as novels and short stories, the plot is a story line which is populated not only with characters and their interactions, but also with information such as natural events, descriptions of scenery, as well as elements such as humor, mystery, suspense, drama, action, struggles, birth, death, betrayal, etc. For works which are more referential, such as textbooks and references books, there characters who are the contributing authors as well as cited authors, and the plot line corresponds to the organization or sequence of presentation of information. All of these types of works of literature can be viewed in segments, such as chapters, or even just in blocks of literature such as page ranges.
As a consumer, whether an avid novel reader or a professional or student using a reference book, one becomes aware of one's preferred content and presentation sequence. For this reason, there is a vast array of novel writing styles as well as reference book formats. One novel consumer may prefer mild humor strewn throughout a drama (e.g. “romantic comedy”) that has at least a small resolution of conflict within each chapter, for example. Another novel consumer may prefer mystery and intrigue, organized initially as separate plotlines which become entangled with each other in the later segments.
For reference works, one consumer may prefer a sequentially-organized presentation of information which starts with an introduction to a subject (e.g. field of science, area of law, etc.), and presents deeper and more detailed information progressively in each chapter, wherein a final chapter is virtually cryptic except to experts in the field. Another consumer, however, may wish to have all information on an area within the subject (e.g. electrical conductivity within physics, tax law within law, etc.) entirely presented within a chapter including its elementary presentation and its deepest presentation.